Two professionals that you would not immediately associate with each other are financial advisors and psychologists, however, strange as it may seem they can both play a part in resolving several issues for their clients and patients. What we are talking about are the links that exist between a person’s financial health and their mental health.
There is undeniable evidence, backed up with clinical studies, which show a correlation between a person’s finances and their mental health. It has been shown that a person’s financial well-being influences their mental health, and conversely, a person mental health, or lack thereof, can have consequences for their financial situation. Let us look at some of the specific ways these manifest themselves.
How Mental Health Impacts Financial Health
A person in any of the following situations will benefit in the first instance from seeking medical help from a psychologist, psychiatrist or even Telehealth psychology therapy. At the same time, it would do them no harm to speak to financial advisors who might not be in a position adoption to fix their mental health, but they may be able to reverse some of the financial damage that has been caused.
Most people can see the correlation between finances and mental health but for most, it is a one-way street. However, it does go both ways and here are some examples of where a person’s mental health issues can adversely affect their finances.
- Getting ‘highs’ from spending money can mean overspending or getting into serious debt.
- Feeling down or depressed can mean a person is not motivated to manage their finances properly.
- If mental health adversely affects a person’s ability to work, it can negatively impact their income.
- Conditions such as hypomania can lead to impulsive and irrational decisions relating to money.
- Avoidance and patterns of behaviour that ignore financial problems just make them worse.
- Insecurity can mean trying to please or impress everyone leading to excessive spending on expensive fashions, cars, and gifts.
How Financial Health Impacts Mental Health
It has been shown that someone who employs financial advisors and thus has their finances in order is less likely to suffer, stress, anxiety, or depression due to worries and concerns they have about money. Some examples of the issues which can arise from poor financial planning are:
- Having worries and concerns about money can cause insomnia and other sleep problems.
- Specific events, such as opening envelopes that a person knows contains a bill, can set off anxiety and panic attacks.
- Not having money to afford certain items such as birthday presents for children can lead to short and long term depression.
- Having insufficient money to lead an unhealthy lifestyle, such as a healthy diet can harm one’s physical and mental health.
- Relationships with partners, family, and friends can suffer due to arguments over money.
- If relationships falter due to financial concerns, a person can become withdrawn and isolated.
- In the worst cases, money worries can cause a person to have suicidal thoughts.
In addition to these scenarios, concerns over many and finances can trigger several negative feelings in a person, and these can become the norm for them. The feelings we are talking about include
- Fear
- Shame
- Guilt
- Stress
- Anger
- Unworthiness
- Embarrassment
None of these is positive even if they are felt for a brief few minutes but for someone whose finances are in turmoil they can become ingrained in their psyche which is far from healthy.
Thankfully, there are solutions, both health-wise and financially. If the feelings we have described are severe then a person should seek medical help but ultimately, the root cause of these mental issues are their finances. To resolve them there are several solutions with one of the most effective being to seek the advice of financial advisors.
Financial advisors might not be able to wave a magic wand and make all your financial problems disappear overnight, but they can certainly show you a route away from the mess you might be in now, and to a situation where your finances are under control and more importantly so is your mental health.
